Liquid collecting and directing means



Aug. 10, 1948. G. E. BURKS 2,446,631

LIQUID COLLECTING AND DIRECTING MEANS Filed Sept. 1, 1944 2 Sheeps-Sheet 1 F E INVENTOR.

i 590 8 f. Bur/f3 By 2%., 74. F

ATTORNEY Aug. l0, 1948.v G. E. BURKS 2,

LIQUID COLLECTING AND DIREC'I'ING MEANS Filed Sept. 1, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

L Geo/ye A? flux-la AT ORNE Y Patented Aug. 10, 1948 LIQUID COLLECTING AND DIRECTING MEAN 8 George E. Burks, Peoria, Ill., ascignor to Caterpillar Tractor 00., San Leandro, Call! a corporation of California Application September 1. 1944, Serial No. 552,358

(or oa-so) 2 Claims. 1 The present invention relates to a liquid trap for an exhaust conduit 01' an internal combustion engine and particularly to a trap for collecting liquid entering the exhaust conduit or the engine and draining it off to prevent it from passing in the engine.

Vertical exhaust pipes are commonly and preferably used on many internal combustion engines such, for example, as the engines of. tractors.

When such engines are exposed to the weather the moisture entering through the exhaust pipe as a result of rain or snow has detrimental effect on the engine either in causing rust or by its presence preventing proper operation of the engine.

'It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a trap of simple construction which will be efiective to prevent entry of moisture into an engine without unduly obstructing the free-flow of exhaust gases through the exhaust conduit with which it is associated. Further and more specific objects and advantages of the invention are made apparent in the following specification wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the drawings: a

Figure l is a side elevation of a track-type trac tor illustrating a rain trap in the exhaust conduit of the track-type tractor;

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the rain trap of Figure 1 taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view of another modification of rain trap showing the rain trap also serving as the coupling between the eX- haust conduit and exhaust manifolds; a

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken in a plane indicated by the line 8-6 oi Figure 5; and Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional viewof still another modification of rain trap between the exhaust conduit and the coupling means for the exhaust manifold.

In Figure 1, I have illustrated one form of the trap of my invention with the exhaust of a vehicle such as a track-type tractor having an engine provided with divided exhaust manifolds communicating with an upright exhaust conduit. While Figure 1 shows two exhaust manifolds, it is to be understood, however, that the trap of this embodiment, as well as the others, may be employedwlth a single exhaust manifold or any other number of exhaust manifolds dis-charging into a single exhaust conduit.

The exhaust conduit, in the embodiment disclosed in Figure 1 includes as one of its members a coupling member i0 coupled to divided exhaust manifolds II and I2, as more clearly shown in Figure 2, with gasket l3 between the coupling l0 andthe divided manifolds II and i2, and the member being held assembled in any well-known manner as by bolts or capscrews. Oneend of an upright pipe II is secured to" the coupling I0 as by welding and the other end connects into an enlarged sleeve i5 and is secured therein by clamp IS. The enlarged sleeve i5 forms a part of the trap and the sleeve I5 is connected at its upper end to the exhaust extension pipe I! of smaller diameter than the sleeve 16. The lower end of the exhaust extension pipe I! extends into the sleeve Ill and has a series ofapertures It. The

apertured lower end of the exhaust extension pipe I! forms a part of the trap mechanism. In this connection, the exhaust extension pipe I! and the sleeve I! are preassembled as a unit for mounting on the upright pipe I. It can be seen that the exhaust conduit conducting the exhaust gases from the engine to the atmosphere comprises the tension pipe I1 is greater than the cross-sectional area of the pipe I! so there is no obstruction to flow of exhaust gases from the sleeve into the eithaust extension pipe ll with a cutting down of the eiii ciency of the engine.

The inner end of the exhaust extension pipe ii 'is closed by a plate 20 which with the lower end portion of the pipe I! forms a water collecting receptacle so that any water flowing down the inside'of the pipe i'l will flow onto plate 2|. The plate 20 has an aperture 2| therein and a pipe 22 connecting the aperture 2i with the outside of sleeve II to conduct any water collected to the outside atmosphere. The exhaust gases entering sleeve l5 from upright pipe I encounter deflector 23 supported in the sleeve I! by means of bracket 24 secured to the inner wall or the sleeve. The deflector 23 guides the exhaust gases to the inner wall of the sleeve i5 and away from the dead end pipe 11 with a minimum of resistance to the flow of the exhaust gases and hence with a minimum loss of eiiiciency in the engine. The exhaust gases then enter exhaust extension pipe i1 through apertures l9, as previously described, and pass to the atmosphere through the pipe 11.

In some instances, when snow packs in the exhaust extension pipe i1 and melts, or water runs down the inside wall of pipe H, the water may flow through one or more of the apertures l9 and then down the outside of the pipe l1. Av trough member 25 is attached to the outside of the pipe ll by welding or any other suitable means to form a receiving and directing means for an water which might find its way down the outside of the pipe II. From the trough 25, the water flows through apertures 26 in the pipe I! onto the plate 20, thence through opening 2| and pipe 22 to the atmosphere. It can thus be seen that whether water flows down the inside or outside of the pipe H, a collecting and directing means is ready to receive it and divert its flow away from the engine.

The embodiment shown in Figure 5 is particularly adapted for use with a dual or divided exhaust manifold, and employs the same principles as previously described for Figure 2. The dual exhaust manifolds are again represented by the numerals Ii and I2 and a coupling member 30, containing the trap, connects the exhaust manifolds H and I 2 with an exhaust extension pipe 3i. In this modification the exhaust conduit includes the coupling 30 and the exhaust extension 3i. The exhaust extension pipe 3| is secured to one end of the coupling 30 by welding or any other suitable means while at the other end, the exhaust manifolds and the coupling member are held together by capscrews or bolts in a wellknown manner with a gasket member therebetween. 1

In this modification, the liquid collecting portion comprises a trough 32 formed by integral flanges 33 located directly under the exhaust extension 3i. As a result any backfiow of water through the exhaust extension 3| must fall by gravity into the trough 32. It is to be observed that the periphery of the trough 32 is outside, or larger, than the internal diameter of the exhaust extension 3i; hence, any flow of water through the exhaust extension 3| will of necessity have to drop and be caught in the trap 32. Also comparatively wide spaces 35 and 36 exist on each side of the periphery of the trough 32 and the wall of the. coupling member 33 so that in efiect the water collecting trough is associated with means to provide for substantially unobstructed flow of exhaust gases through the coupling member 30 into the exhaust extension 3| as can be clearly seen from Figured To provide for drainage of water from the trough 32, drain passages 34 are provided between the trough and the outside atmosphere through which any collected water may escape. In this modification the drain passage 34 is shielded by the coupling member 30 from above and the exhaust manifolds H and I2 from the side. Further, the coupling 30 is located under the hood of the track-type tractor; hence, it is practically pipe aligned over and spaced from the conduit, a

76 into the sleeve and being perforated for the pasimpossible for any water to enter the engine through the drain passage.

The modification shown in Figure 7 also embodies the principles of the previous modifications with this particular structure making provisions for straight through flow of the exhaust gases from the engine without the exhaust gases encountering any obstructions to their flow or be! ing subjected to any change of direction.

The structure of Figure 7 comprises a coupling member 40 connected at one end to the exhaust manifold or manifolds of the engine (not shown) and the other end of the coupling member connected to an upright pipe 4'! as by bolts 42 or any other suitable means. An exhaust extension pipe 43 is connected to the upright pipe 4! so that the coupling 40 and pipes 41 and 43 i'orm the exhaust conduit between the engine and the atmosphere.

The upright pipe 41 is flared inwardly gradually for a limited distance at its top and discharges directly into the exhaust extension pipe 43. The upper end of the upright pipe 4] with its gradual flare acts as a means to guide the exhaust gas into the exhaust extension pipe 43 with a minimum obstruction to the flow of the exhaust gases in their flow through the different members making up the exhaust conduit.

The exhaust extension pipe 43 is flared outwardly close to its lower end beginning at 44 and continues to flare outwardly until point 45 is reached where the end of the pipe is turned inwardly as at 4B. The inner end of the portion 48 is attached by welding or any other suitable means to the upright pipe which leaves a space 41 between the flared lower end of pipe 43 and upright pipe 41 which is the collecting space or trap for water. It is noted that the flared lower end of the pipe 43 is of a larger diameter than the upper end of the upright pipe 4i; hence, any flow of water down the inner wall of the pipe 43 will be diverted away from the entrance of pipe 4| and into the collecting space 41. A drain passage 48 connects the space 41 with the atmosphere to drain any water collected outside the trap and away from the engine. This modification is located under the hood of the engine which serves to protect the drain passage 48 against entrance of water.

It can be seen from the above that I have provided a group of water traps which effectively prevent water from entering an engine through the exhaust conduit for the engine.

I claim:

1. A trap for preventing entrance of liquid into an engine exhaust comprising the combination with an upright exhaust conduit of an extension pipe aligned over and spaced from the conduit, a sleeve of larger diameter than the conduit and the extension for coupling them together, said extension pipe having its lower end depending into the sleeve and being perforated for the passage of exhaust gases, a closure plate for the lower end of the extension pipe to trap liquid, and a drain conduit communicating between the inner closed end of the extension pipe and the exterior of the sleeve to conduct trapped liquid to the exterior of the exhaust conduit.

2. A trap for preventing entrance of liquid into an engine exhaust comprising the combination with an upright exhaust conduit of an extension sleeve of larger diameter than the conduit and the extension for coupling them together, said extension pipe having its lower and depending REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Wheeler May 11, 1867 Number Number Number Name Date Stewart Jan. 6, 1880 Murray Jan. 29, 1884 Lagen June 1, 1897 Foster Apr. 4, 1905 Branston Nov. 28, 1922 Kolstrand Nov. 9, 1926 Dibble Mar. 8, 1932 Bogert July 19, 1932 Mitchell 1 June 12, 1934' Lonergan Oct. 13, 1936 Hamblin June 22, 1937 Fairbanks May 30, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Feb. 11, 1899 Great Britain 1890 

